Bottle-washing machine.



w. L'. STREET.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY Z2, I9I8.

Patented Dc. 24, 1918.

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W. L. STREET.

BOULE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED IULYZZ.

INVENTOH i WM jm? ATTR/VEV IHHIII W. L. STREETn BOULE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION` FILED IULY 22. ISIB- .Patented D. 24,-1918.

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' Patented Dec. 24,1918.

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UNTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WADE L. STREET, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 JEFFERSON LIVINGSTON, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE FIRM-NAME OF THE T. A. SNIDER PRESERVE CO.

BOTTLE-WASHING MACHINE.

nasavev.

Specification of Letters Patent.

atented Dec. 24, 1918.

To all ywhom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, WADE L. STREET, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Washing Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speci cation.

This invention relates to bottle washers and its principal object is to provide a machine, autoinatic in operation, for washing the outsides of bottles after they have been filled. The machine has been designed especially for washing filled catchup bottles, but it is not intended to limit its use for this purpose, as it may be used for washing any kind of bottles. It is well known that after bottles or jars are filled with catchup, mustard or the like, and have been corked, the outer faces of the bottles or 'jars are smeared more or less with the material. This must be removed before the labels are applied, and usually workmen and women are employed to wash the bottles. The present machine has been designed to automatically wash the outsides of the bottles, and deliver them in clean condition preparatory to labeling them. The invention consists in the several novel features hereinafter set forth and claimed.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan of a bottle washer enibodying a simple form of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical cross section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. l and Fig. 6 is a fragmental plan of a bottle conveyer and a water spraying pipe used in themachine.

Referring to said drawings, in the einbodiment of the invention illustrated therein, 10, designates a frame of strong andi substantial construction for supporting the operative portions of the machine. Sad frame is composed of uprights 11, connected by longitudinally extending bars 12, 12%, and transversely extending bars 13, 13". Said bars may comprise angle iron bars, or

other structural iron bars bolted or otherwise secured together.

Extending lengthwise of the frame is a bottle conveyer 14, which may comprise one or more link belts or chains 15, and conveyer` fingers 20 secured thereto. The chains 15 are trained around sprocket wheels 16, mounted on shafts 17, 18, journaled in bear# ing boxes 19, secured to the end uprights l1. Certain of the links of the chains 15 have transversely extending lugs, and the fingers,

lthe protruding ends of the fingers of the lower portion of the conveyer. In the par ticular form shown, crosswise extending track and platform supporting bars 25 support the conveyer tracks and platform above the cross bars (see Fig. 3). The fingers `20 have upright webs or flanges 26, which are adapted to engage the sides of the bottles (B) and propel them along the platform 23.

rihe main drive shaft is seen at 36 and i's journaled in bearing boxes 66, secured to cross-bars 13a of the frame. Tight and loose pulleys, 67, 68, are mounted on the drive shaft and may be belted to any suitable source of power. The conveyer shaft 17 is driven from the main shaft by speed reducing gearing here shown to comprise a bevel pinion 69 on the drive shaft` 36, a bevel gear 70 mounted on a counter-shaft 71 and meshing with the pinion 69, a small sprocketwheel 72 on the counter-shaft 71, a large sprocket wheel 73 mounted on the conveyer shaft 17 and a sprocket chain 74 trained around said sprocket wheels 72, 73.

Adjacent the end A, of the frame (which is the receiving end of the machine) are the bottoni scrubbing brushes 27. Said brushes 27 are round and are mountedV on horizontal shafts 28, which are journaled in bearing boxes 29, secured on two of the lengthwise extending frame members 12. Intermesh drives the sprocket wheel 31 by a sprocket chain 35.

The counter shaft 32 is driven from the main'drive shaft 36 by miter pinions 37, 38fast upon the respectiveJ ends of the counter shaft 32 and main drive shaft 36.

yA guide bar 39 for holding the bottoms of the bottles against the brushes 27` extends z'lengthwise ofthe machine directly above bottles between the bari and brushes.

the conveyer 14- and is supported by brackets 40 Awhich are secured to the frame bars 13'.

Thefron't'e'nd of said guide bar 39 is curvedfor'w'ard to facilitate the entrance ofthe guide' barl 7 6 is -supported in line with the front faces of the brushes 27 and serves as a guide'in laying the bottles upon the platform between the conveyer lingers. lm-

inedia'tely above the path of travel of the bottles is a bottle retaining member 41 which is supported from the frame members 13 by hinged supports 42. Saidbottle re- A taining member prevents the bottles from being dislodged from the conveyer by the action of the brushes 27. A water trough 43 1s secured to the frame and extends underneath the brushes 27 and catches the water and material washed off the bottoms of the bottles.l A discharge pipe 46 conducts the water and material away from the trough. The rearwall 44 of the trough extends up behind the brushes 27 and a cover 45 above the brushes 27 prevents water from being sprayed out of the machine by the revolv ing-brushes 27. l

Beyond the bottom washing brushes is the side scrubbing or washing device which is l in theform of an endless band, and comprises a plurality of connected brushes'47,

which are located above the path of travel of the bottles and act to wash the sides of the bottles. In the form shown in the drawings, said brushes 47 extend lengthwise of i the machine and are mounted on two endless cured on fthe' 'frame members 13a..

link belt chains 48 which are trained around sprocket wheels 49, 50,'fast on shafts 51, 52, that are, journaled inl bear-ing boxes 53-se The I brushes 47 are drivenfin the direction of the v neck and body of vthe bottles.

arrow in Fig. 4, and their path of movement alongthe bottles is on a slight incline to follow generally the outline formed by the The shaft 52 ist-he drivingshaftfor the brushes 47 and is drivenfrom the main drive shaft 36. by sprocket wheels 54, 55, fast on the shafts 36, 52, respectively, and a sprocket chain 56 trained around said sprocket wheels 54, 55.

A bottle retaining bar 7 8 secured to the frame of the machine by brackets 79 lies underneath the brushes 47 at the rea-r edge of the platform and prevents the bottles from being swept off the vplatform by the action of the brushes 47. A casing or housing 57, secured to the frame 10, covers the brushes 47 and acts to prevent water from being sprayed outside of the machine. A drip pan 58, carried by the frame of the machine beneath the upper portion of the conveyer 15, catches lthe water and material washed off the bottles by the brushes 47, and

a discharge pipe 59 leads from `the drip pan and conveys the water and material away.

.Het water issupplied to the brushes and bottles by spray pipes 60, 61, which lead from a main supply pipe 62. A water supply pipe v63 'and vsteam supply pipe 64 open to the mai-n' supply pipe 62, whereby hot watermay be supplied to the spray pipes. rThe pipe 60, leads along the top and front ofthe brushes 27, and its lower side isperforated. The .hot water is directed through said perforations to the bristles of the brushes 27, and to the bottles, as seen in Fig. 3. The pipe 61 leads along the forward side'of the brushes 47 and is perfo.- rated along its 'rear side, whereby hot water is sprayed upon the bristles of the brushes 47 and to the sides of the bottles.V Said pipe 61 has a branch 65 which leads along one end of the brushes 47 and is perforated along its bottom. At this place the bottles are rinsed after having been scrubbed on their bottoms and sides.

ln the operation of the machine, thefconveyer 14 travels in the direction ofthe arrow a (Figs. 2 and 5). The hot water having been turned on, the bottles B are laid on the receiving end of the platform 23,.be tween the conveyer lingers 20, the bottomsjof the bottles beingplaced againsty the guide 76. The conveyer lingers 20 propelthebottles past the brushes and,-while being propelled, theyl roll along the platform, thereby 'exposing every part of their sides to the action of the brushes. When they reach the rotating bottom washing brushes 27, their bottoms are heldagainst thev bristles of the rotating brushesby the guide bar 39. By reason of the fact that two of saidbr'usheslrot'ate in one direction and the other two rotatein the opposite direction, a very thorough `sc 'zri'rb` bing of the bottoms'is obtained.

vAfter passing the bottom washing brushes,

the bottles are'conveyed past vthe `sidew-ashing brushes 47. The vspeed of travel of the bottlelsis much lessthan the speed of travell of the brushes 47 Consequently, the general direction of travelvof the bristles of 'the brushes 47 will'be lengthwise of the bottles. Inasmuch as' the bottles are rolled along the platform 23 by the conveyer, and inasmuch vll() as the brushes 4:7 are long enough to cover ten or twelve bottles at a time, each bottle will be acted on for some considerable time and each part of its side will be exposed to the action of the brushes, whereby they are thoroughly cleaned.

Aft-er passing the brushes 4:7 the bottles pass the rinsing pipe 65 where clear water is sprayed upon them. A receiving table (not shown) may be placed at the discharge end C upon which the clean bottles are delivered by the conveyer chain 14.

More or less variation of the exact details of construction is possible without departing from the spirit of this invention. I desire, therefore, not to limit myself to the exact form of construction shown and described, but intend, in the following claims, to point out all of the invention disclosed herein.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a bottle washing machine, a platform, a bottle conveyer for rolling bottles along said platform, rotating bottom scrubbing brushes, traveling side scrubbing brushes moving substantially lengthwise of t-he bottles, and driving mechanism for said conveyer and brushes.

2. In a bottle washing machine, a platform, an endless conveyer for rolling bottles along said platform, rotating bottom scrubbing brushes adjacent the path of travel of the bottles, an endless traveling side scrubbing brush moving through the path of movement of the botles in a direction length` wise of the bottles, and driving mechanism for said conveyer and brushes.

3. In a bottle washing machine, a platform, an endless conveyer for rolling bottles along said platform, rotating bottom scrubbing brushes adjacent the path of movement of said bottles, the adjacent brushes rotating in opposite directions, an endless traveling side scrubbing brush, moving through the path of movement of the bottles in a direction lengthwise of the bottles, guides for the bottles and drivingmechanism for the conveyer and scrubbing brushes.

4. In a bottle washing machine, a platform, an endless conveyer chain having bottle propelling fingers projecting from one side thereof, supports for said chain, rotating bottom scrubbing brushes adjacent the path of movement of the bottles, an endless traveling side scrubbing brush moving through the path of movement of the bottles in a direction lengthwise of the bottles, a guide bar for preventing lengthwise movement of the bottles under said side scrubbing brushes, a main drive shaft and gearing between said drive shaft and conveyer and brushes.

5. In a bottle washing machine, a platform, a, conveyer for rolling bottles along said platform, rotating bottom scrubbing brushes, means for holding the bottles against said brushes, an endless traveling side scrubbing brush moving'through the path of movement of the bottles in a direction lengthwise of the bottles, bottle retaining means under said brush for holding the bottles on the table against the action of said brush, driving mechanism for said conveyer and brushes, and water spraying pipes located adjacent said brushes.

6. In a bottle washing machine, a platform, a bottle conveyer for rolling bottles along said platform, rotating bottom scrubbing brushes, traveling side scrubbin brushes moving substantially lengthwise o the bottles, and driving mechanism for said conveyer and brushes, and water spraying pipes located adjacent said brushes.

WADE L. STREET.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C." 

